Current Exhibitions & Events

Philadelphia’s Savoy Company

The Savoy Company of Philadelphia is the oldest amateur theater company in the world devoted to the production of operas by Gilbert and Sullivan. “Let Every Heart Be Filled with Joy” traces the history of the company, beginning with its founding in 1901 by Penn alumnus Alfred Reginald Allen. Featured are posters, programs, and photographs from four representative productions: The Yeomen of the Guard (1908); Utopia Limited, or The Flowers of Progress (1936); The Pirates of Penzance (1967); and H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass That Loved a Sailor (1997).

A permanent exhibition case is devoted to the display of John James Audubon’s spectacular Birds of America (1827-38). Penn’s double elephant folio set of the Birds was a gift of Edwin H. Vare, Jr. in 1957-59. The page opening from the volume on display is changed monthly.